ThePrint Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta’s recent column on Punjab floods makes a sharp, uncomfortable point: in Punjab’s toughest moment in decades, people expected their Prime Minister to show up. But he didn’t — and the optics hurt. Where I differ with Shekhar Gupta is the headline metaphor. Punjab isn’t “becoming the new Northeast.” It is neither alienated from the Union nor analogous to the Northeast of yesteryears. And today’s Northeast is far more integrated than that cliché allows. But Shekhar Gupta’s core message stands: calamity has collided with politics, and silence from the top hardens old suspicions.
In politics, silence is also a sentence. Delhi’s message discipline may have been deliberate — to avoid rewarding a state that led the farm law agitation, or to bank on a split Sikh vote and a consolidated Hindu vote. But Punjab is a border state where the line between hurt pride and grievance politics is thin. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on Punjab floods while he tweets about earthquakes in Afghanistan and floods in Pakistan was deafening. A private phone call to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was a small consolation, but people wanted public empathy.
Punjabis do not require pity; they ask for empathy. Tweets from senior leaders did come, but too late, long after the waters had wreaked havoc. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s visit salvaged some optics, but it was not enough to substitute for the symbolism of a prime ministerial presence on Punjabi soil.
What New Delhi should do — quickly and visibly
First, visit. In India’s political grammar, a prime minister’s visit is reassurance. If time can be found for other states, a short stop in Punjab would pay back in trust what it costs in hours. The Home Minister, too, should front the recovery narrative given the NDMA and NDRF’s role.
PM Modi will visit Punjab on 9 September and likely other flood-hit states like Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand as well. This could provide a powerful symbolic reset. But such a visit must deliver more than optics; it should be used to issue on-the-spot relief directives, endorse transparent assessment protocols, and signal that federal empathy is substantive, not scripted.
Second, announce a two-track plan. It should include immediate assistance tied to transparent assessments, and a medium-term resilience package — embankments, regulated riverbeds, flood-plain zoning, and a dedicated mitigation fund.
Third, depoliticise water management. Flood-release protocols, illegal mining crackdowns, and Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) operating transparency are urgent. This calamity was the right moment to talk about the vexed Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue in a less adversarial, more technocratic setting.
Finally, link empathy with economics. Interest subvention, credit lines to MSMEs, parametric crop insurance, and rural jobs for rebuilding bunds can all be rolled out without new laws.
Also read: Punjab is fast becoming the new Northeast. And there’s a message in it for Modi
The AAP government’s task
This is a state-capacity moment. The AAP government must not only carry out relief but also present a complete and credible picture to central teams. The formal memorandum estimating damage and losses must be comprehensive and in accordance with central guidelines. Anything less risks delay or under-assessment.
Alongside, publish tehsil-wise loss estimates and geotag relief disbursements. Invite independent audits, commit to quarterly Assembly statements, and notify flood-plain zoning. Crack down on illegal mining with drones and digital permits. A White Paper on flood management should be tabled within 60 days, identifying ten short-term works and ten medium-term priorities.
The AAP came to power on a governance promise. This is the test — whether it can act administratively rather than adversarially.
What the Akali Dal and Sikh institutions should do
Former Akal Takht chief Giani Harpreet Singh has been forthright, positioning himself as both a community voice and a challenger to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal. But Sikh institutions can do more than issue statements. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and gurdwara networks should set the gold standard for transparency, publishing fortnightly ledgers of aid and needs.
For the Akalis, the moment demands practical plans, not rhetorical competition. If they want to reclaim relevance from radicals and influencers, they must talk in concrete terms — repairing embankments, preventing riverbed encroachments, and strengthening primary health centres for post-flood disease control.
BJP and RSS cadre
The BJP cadre must convert discipline into door-to-door service: helping families with paperwork, surveying losses, supporting camps. Relief should not be left to WhatsApp propaganda or photo-ops. The choice before the BJP is clear: pursue polarisation, or prove it can be a reassuring neighbour in Punjab’s villages.
What the Congress needs to do — and unlearn
The Congress remains Punjab’s largest national party, but it cannot be paralysed by quarrels elsewhere. It must get over its Bihar Voter Adhikar Yatra confrontations when it comes to Punjab. Flood politics cannot be dictated by national alliance squabbles.
The Congress should form a bipartisan shadow task force in Chandigarh, coordinate with AAP where citizens benefit, and commit district presidents to a common relief protocol. National leaders must also show face: Rahul Gandhi can visit flood-affected regions, or at least Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. In Parliament, Congress MPs should push for timely SDRF/NDRF disbursements, a model flood-plain law, and crop insurance pilots.
Tweets from the party’s leadership came late, making the party appear reactive. This is a chance to change that perception.
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Role of Punjabi singers, artists, and diaspora
One heartening trend has been the generosity of Punjabi singers, artists, and performers. Many have pledged handsome donations and used their platforms to mobilise aid. The diaspora, too, has promised support. This energy should be channelled into audited relief pools and long-term rebuilding projects — schools, health centres, link roads — rather than fragmented collections.
Water, floods, and the larger compact
Water politics has been reduced to slogans for too long. Recovery is the moment to attempt a technocratic reset through an independent rivers commission with experts, Centre and state representation, and annual public reporting. Delhi’s messaging on the Indus Waters Treaty may remain muscular, but what matters to farmers is whether next August feels safer than this one.
The way forward
Punjab does not need pity; it needs a national embrace that is visible, competent, and free of one-upmanship. The Prime Minister’s presence would be a powerful start. The Home Minister’s steady hand, AAP’s transparency, Akali accountability, BJP cadre’s neighbourliness, and Congress’ maturity are all parts of the same recovery machine.
Calamity can be an opportunity if handled with empathy and coordination. Punjab has weathered greater deluges before — 1988, 2023 — and it will again. The question is whether this time, something positive can come out for Punjab and all its stakeholders. This is not a zero-sum game. If everyone acts together, a more conducive environment for Punjab’s recovery — and India’s federal compact — can emerge.
KBS Sidhu is a former IAS officer who retired as Special Chief Secretary, Punjab. He tweets @kbssidhu1961. Views are personal.
This is why I have written earlier too, that was with reference to Guptaji column. Basically, what I wrote was leave NE alone. Then, come along come another gentleman stating that Punjab is not as alienated as NE. My hearts go out with the people of Punjab, but in the process to smear NE name after some odd 75 years later is equally shameful, tone deaf and plain old racism!